One night, I suddenly had a random idea of submitting some of the films I made to a school film festival. I found four films in my MacBook Movies folder and submitted them all. Three got in.

It was so unexpected, as I submitted the requirements clumsily one night. (The resumé I submitted had an obvious objective of gaining an internship and not for a film festival.) I did not even bother telling my friends that I submitted our film (“Lasa ng Lawa”) because I knew it would not get in being a documentary. But apparently it did. (Sorry, guys.)

The first one was a one-minute film (which film festival panelists don’t usually accept.) The second was a documentary made by my group mates in NATURA1 and me (which is peculiar for a short feature dominated film festival.) The third one was a music video that won second place (which is also peculiar as a selection among short films that won in Cairo or in major local film festivals, and it’s a music video.) The fourth one was complete garbage that I had no hopes for from the start.

Then, one morning, news popped out that I and my group mates got in with not just one but three films! Unbelievable. I was praying really hard, thanking God.

Here they are, and wish them luck:

“IIIRI MO BA?” (Will you push it?) (2016)

A one-minute film about a woman in the toilet, releasing something that must not be released according to many.

I wanted to make a film that does not only address the issue of abortion. In the beginning of production, my vision for it was to capture what a woman feels when aborting an unwanted child. Many see abortion as a question of “Yes or no?” But, people forget the emotional aspect of it; How hard it can be or how easy it can be, depending on the person. My vision was a one-take film of a woman just crying.

The problem: She cannot do it. The solution: She tried harder.

Lead: Andrea Mae Felipe

Production Designer: Anna Mikaela Quizon

Writer, Editor, Cinematographer, Director: Robin Estargo

Injeenyuhs Films

“LASA NG LAWA” (Taste of the Lake) (2016)

A fourteen-minute documentary about Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines and dubbed as “the largest septic tank in Southeast Asia.”

The documentary highlights environmental issues tormenting the lake, the people living by the lake, the people who profit from the lake, and the people who protect the lake. The film goes to the different regions surrounding the huge body of water, journeying from Cabuyao, Laguna to Binangonan, Rizal, to gain information and stories from these people.

“CASE STUDIES” (2016)

A film about a girl’s catharsis from her murderer.

From the darkness, a girl emerges and walks down the street. She suddenly
stops for feeling that something is behind her, but she continues to walk,
now at a faster pace while looking back from time to time, going into a main
street and into a marketplace, where she encounters an entity that
manipulates her: her past, her spirit and her true intentions.

In the beginning, I had a recurring vision in my mind of a girl just walking, being followed, and going crazy. Then, I made it even more crazier and I found the right music. In the poster, it says “It murders.” It is a phrase that has blank spaces on both ends: What’s ‘it’ and what does ‘it’ murder?

‘It’ may either be paranoia, a physical tormentor, stress, responsibilities, or anything that follows the youth today, that they end up going to a dead end, or in this case, suicide.

Or maybe not suicide. Who knows?

Lead: Theresa Isabel Matula

Music: Nathaniel Salvador (The After-School Special or pillow talk)

1st Assistant Camera: Victor Christian Donceras

2nd Assistant Camera: Carlos Vince Gamueda

Costume Design: Theresa Isabel Matula

Production Assistant: Jann Daniel Medenilla

Extras: Marian Cortez-Estargo, Nisa Traya, Johniel

Production Design: Marian Cortez-Estargo, Brent Marion Estargo

Executive Producer: Rolando Estargo

Writer, Editor, Director of Photography, and Director: Robin Estargo

Injeenyuhs Films in association with The UP Underground Music Community